1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cup holders or coasters, and, more particularly to such items being configured to be stackable and to prevent light weight cups held therein from being overturned or blown off a table by the wind.
2. Summary of the Background Art
Paper or plastic cups are often used outdoors under windy conditions with a result that empty or nearly empty cups are overturned or blown off tables, causing liquids to be spilled and causing trash to accumulate. Such problems may occur in private residences and in restaurants.
Coasters of many types are widely used for placement under drinking glasses or cups, primarily to prevent contact between the furniture surfaces on which the glasses or cups are placed and the hot or cold surfaces of the glasses or cups or with liquids formed by condensation on the surfaces of the glasses or cups. Such coasters are typically stackable for storage, with interlocking surfaces being provided to hold the coasters stacked in place, or with the coasters simply being stackable due to their flat and parallel upper and lower surfaces. The patent literature includes several examples of stackable coasters. For example, U.S. Design Pat. No. 166,368 describes a set of coasters that are held in a stacked condition by a package, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,326 describes coasters that are keyed so that they can only be stacked in one configuration, in which graphical information is displayed on the peripheral surface of the coasters. However, since such coasters have, at most, a small lip surrounding a cup-receiving surface, they cannot hold an empty, or nearly empty paper or plastic cup in place when it is being blown by a substantial wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,531 describes a device for holding a stack of light tapered paper cups in an inverted orientation so that the cups cannot be easily knocked down by the wind. Several embodiments are described, each of which includes a base with an annular surface for receiving the edge of the lowermost cup in an inverted stack of cups and a member or an adjustable group of members extending upward inside this annular surface for engaging the inner surface of this lowermost cup. Still, what is needed is a wind-resistant cup holder for holding a single cup in its upright orientation so that it can be used as a coaster while preventing a light-weight cup from being overturned or blown away by the wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,151 describes a cup holder comprising a single molded piece having at least three upstanding segments interconnected by hinges, so that the segments are retained in a circular configuration while being outwardly inclined having a size substantially less than the size of the top rim of the cup and an upper aperture greater in size than the lower aperture, permitting the cup holder to be nested before use. The hinges permit the lower extremity of the segments to be cammed outwardly as a cup is introduced through the upper aperture and through the lower aperture to engage the lower extremities of the segments and cam the lower extremities of the segments outwardly to thereby increaser the size of the lower aperture, permitting the cup to continue moving therethrough, camming the lower extremities of the segments inwardly to come into frictional engagement with the side walls of the cup. The cup is then frictionally retained in the holder between the top rim and the bottom end, so that the cup can be carried by grasping the holder, preventing contact between the user's hand and the hot surface of the cup. What is needed is a cup holder releasably holding a light weight cup while remaining on the table as a coaster when the cup is removed, but while preventing the cup from being blown away or overturned by the wind while the cup is placed in the holder.